Zootopia: Loose Ends
by shield616
Summary: The Night Howler case has been all but solved, but mysteries still remain. There has been talk in the ZPD of falsified police reports and files and evidence from old cases disappearing from the department records. With Nick in police academy and red tape everywhere, Judy will need all the help she can get to break past the sinister forces that conceal truth.
1. Prologue

**Hi Everyone! This is my first fanfic I have ever written, so please bear with me if the prologue gets a little slow.**

 **MAJOR UPDATE: As of 8/23/2016, the prologue has been rewritten.  
**

* * *

Prologue

ZPD Precinct One; 5:13 PM

"This is not the Zootopia I know," Gazelle said to the ZNN interviewer on the television, "The Zootopia I know is better than this..."

Judy was sitting in her cubicle, writing her report on yet another anti-predator protest and a pred pride counterprotest that would've descended into a riot had it not been for a police intervention. She heaved a depressed sigh as if an anchor were hanging from her chest. She knew she had to focus when writing reports, but she simply couldn't. _He saved my job. He was there for me when I had no one else. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him._ _And look at what I've done_ _._ She remembered the look on Nick's face at the press conference when he scared her into reaching for her fox repellant. It was that look of disappointment, not the one immediately before that made her reach for the aerosol can, that was going to haunt her. Gazelle continued on the television.

"...We cannot allow fear to divide us. Give me back the Zootopia I know."

Judy let the pop star's tearful plea sink in as she stared at the blank page on her screen. _I can't do this anymore._ She stood up on her desk and looked around over the cubicle walls. Half of them were empty, as most of the current shift have already clocked out for dinner. The remaining animals were typing furiously on their keyboards, wishing to finish their reports so they could do the same as the rest of their shift. A box of doughnuts from this morning sat at the front of the room, but nobody was in the mood for sweets.

Besides the clattering of typing, the room was silent in collective thought. Judy could sense the tension radiating from everyone in the room. The predators and prey of Zootopia's finest trusted each other with their lives, regardless of species. Yet, any predator on the force could turn on their comrades in blue at any time. If an officer wasn't worried about the latter in any way, their family most certainly would.

A door at the back of the office slammed open, and Judy could feel the ground shake with every step made by a familiar cape buffalo. She immediately leaped back into her chair and tried her best to remember more details of the protest for her report. The earthquakes got closer as Chief Bogo strode up the aisle towards her cubicle. Judy had no idea why the chief wanted to see her. Her past experiences told her that it probably won't be good. She immediately started typing at a mild pace to seem busy, pretending to not notice the approaching buffalo.

Suddenly, a voice several cubicles behind her broke the room's tense silence.

"Uh, Chief Bogo, sir?"

Judy couldn't help but turn around. The earthquakes stopped as the cape buffalo turned towards the cubicle next to him. Judy couldn't see, but she knew the black bear who was in the said cubicle.

"Not now, Halberd!" the chief thundered.

"But sir, it's urgent!" replied the bear.

Judy moved her chair closer to her cubicle entrance and stuck out an ear to listen in.

"Fine, then. This better be good."

"I did not write this report for the AM-8 case."

"What are you talking about! Of course you did! You were the one in charge of this case!"

Judy heard an noise coming from the cubicle that sounded like a rustling of papers.

"The official case report is completely different from the one I wrote four months ago. See for yourself. The file says no witnesses, but I can clearly remember questioning Mayor Lionheart at the crime scene. The evidence list is also amiss. There is some evidence mentioned that doesn't exist, and I couldn't find any mention of the security camera data at all!"

"Why are you even looking at old case files? AM-8 went cold after three weeks and I marked it unsolved."

"Now that Lionheart is in custody, I want to question him again."

"Until you bring me some new evidence, I am not going to waste department resources and reopen that case on a hunch! This city is tearing itself apart, Halberd! And we need all hands on deck!"

"O-o-of course, sir."

The ground began to shake again. Judy immediately moved her chair back to her desk and pretended to work as Chief Bogo reached her cubicle. The cape buffalo turned towards the entrance and knocked on the wall of her workspace. Judy froze in anticipation of another rant.

"Hopps, the new mayor wants to see you," he said.

"New mayor…?" inquired the bunny.

"It seems you have arrived."

And without another word, the chief strode towards the door to the reception room, bunny tagging closely behind.

The reception room was pristine and spacious as usual. The room was mostly empty, as most of the officers have clocked out for the day. The sun hung low outside, casting long shadows over the furniture through the room's many windows. As Judy turned her head left, she noticed a familiar pudgy cheetah, but did not look his usual cheerful self.

"Clawhauser…? What are you doing?" asked Judy as the cheetah folded up his laptop

"Um… They thought it would be better, if, a predator such as myself, weren't the first face that you see, when you walk into the ZPD," He sullenly replied

"What…?"

"They're, gonna move me to records. It's downstairs. It's by the boiler."

Judy watched as without another word, the cheetah packed up the last of his belongings into a box, picked it up, turned around, and quietly shuffled towards the elevator, leaving the treasured desk at which he worked for so long.

* * *

 **I hope you liked how I'm starting off this fanfic. I will do my best to post chapters as quickly as possible!**

 **Also, second opinions will be heartily considered and deeply appreciated, so please leave a review!**

 **By the way, I highly recommend "Zootopia: A Tail of Two," by 1tT4k3sTwo. His fic got me into writing.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hi again! Now this is where the real fun begins!**

 **Also, a side note:**

 **I know court proceedings are very dry and boring, so listen to this track on Youtube when you reach the asterisk and play it to the horizontal line:**

Phoenix Wright ~ Objection! (English Court Suite) - Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

 **I listened to these while I wrote this chapter, and they make this read much more exciting!**

 **MAJOR UPDATE 1: I figured that this chapter might have been a little too short when I posted it, so I have decided to merge the next chapter with this one.**

 **MAJOR UPDATE 2: Last section of the Prologue has been made a flashback in Chapter 1.**

* * *

Chapter 1

Zootopia District Court, Courtroom 3; 3:38 PM, Six weeks later.

"OBJECTION!"

The elk defense attorney stood up from his chair and gave the wolf standing before him a smug grin.

"Mr. Edgewolf, I'll admit. You may have proved that my client tried to drug a fox into murdering a bunny, but all the evidence and you have presented to the court is merely circumstantial and barely support your witness' testimonies, and thus far do not prove that my client is the mastermind who ordered all the other fifteen mammals to be drugged."

The black-robed gray mouse on the judge's bench turned his head left to face the wolf.

"The defense has a point there. I do hope you have evidence tying Mayor Bellwether to the fifteen mammals drugged with Night Howlers. Otherwise, those related charges will only stay on if pigs fly," agreed the judge.

The audience went silent with the suspense. In the front row, Judy Hopps sat on the edge of her seat, barely able to contain her anxiety.

"...Tsk tsk."

The wolf flashed a sly, toothy grin, one that made Bellwether slump uncomfortably back in her chair in mild fear.

"Your Honor, you know me too well," said the wolf in a smooth, baritone voice, "which is why I have saved my last few pieces of evidence for this moment. Ladies and gents, preds and prey, members of the jury, I present to the courtroom, this carrot pen!"

* **Start Track here**

The prosecutor pulled out a plastic evidence bag containing Judy's pen. The elk sat puzzled.

"Just what does this prove?" he asked with disappointment.

The wolf merely shook his head.

"This is more than just your average novelty pen. This pen has a very special hidden feature. This pen has a concealed sound recorder, and it belongs to Officer Hopps, who was kind enough to have recorded the defendant's very confession to her crimes!"

"NO!"

Bellwether's attorney jumped back in his seat in disbelief. He slowly turned to his left to look at his client in barely contained rage.

"You told me we would have a fighting chance!"

The audience immediately erupted in awe at such decisive evidence.

"Order! I will have order!" demanded the judge as he hammered his gavel, "Mr. Edgewolf, play this recording at once!"

"With pleasure," the wolf calmly answered with an evil grin.

The courtroom fell silent as the wolf rewinded the tape. Two female voices could be heard over the canine snarling of a fox in the background.

"Gosh, think of the headlines! Hero cop killed by savage fox!"  
"So that's it. Prey fear predator, and you stay in power?"  
"Yeah, pretty much."  
"It won't work!"  
"Fear _always_ works! And I'll dart every predator in Zootopia to keep it that way."

Edgewolf released the tape and gave the jury a light bow.

"And now that we have established motive and, by logical extension, suspiciously extensive knowledge of the plot, the prosecution would like to present their final pieces of evidence: this sticky note and an affidavit, from the defendant's hired gun himself!"

He then held up a manila envelope and a second evidence bag, this one containing a sticky note with a certain phone number written on it in red marker. This time, both Bellwether and her lawyer jumped back in their seats in shock.

"Bellwether didn't personally drug any of the other fifteen predators, oh no, and she obviously had help, and thankfully he was only in it for the money. That help came from professional marksman and chemist, Doug Ramses, and he admitted _everything_! And what's more:"

He held up the bagged sticky note.

"The phone number on this sticky note belongs to Mr. Ramses, and it was found on the computer screen in the defendant's office in City Hall! And I highly doubt she is into rams like him, if I might add. Therefore, it is safe to deduce from the note and Mr. Ramses' testimony, that she has been in touch with her hit-ram since day one!"

The wolf then turned towards the elk and slammed his notes on the defense desk, causing the elk and his client to jolt upon the impact.

"A lesson for an amateur like you to remember. Be careful for what you wish for."

The elk sat slouched at his desk in defeat, unable to lock eyes with his opponent. The judge sat back in deep thought, and noticed a tiger in the jury box give him a stern nod.

"It appears the jury is ready to make a decision. I shall grant them a twenty minute recess. Court is adjourned," he said, hammering his gavel.

And with that, as the audience and jury filed out of the room, Dawn Bellwether, still seated in her chair, leaned forward and banged her head on the defendant's desk in anguish.

* * *

Zootopia District Court, Courtroom 3; 4:15 PM

Twenty minutes had passed, and as the audience took their seats, the room was abuzz with excitement.

"Order! Order!" declared the judge, hammering his gavel once again, "Court is back in session, and the verdict has been handed to the bailiff. The defendant shall rise."

Judy and Nick watched as Dawn Bellwether and her elk defense attorney, Mr. Thornhoof, silently stood up before the court. A zebra in a tan uniform quickly handed a slip of paper to the mouse on the judge's bench. The judge took the slip and began to open it, which was a difficult task, as it was twice his size. As he struggled with the task, the audience watched with quiet amusement. After a few seconds of fiddling, the mouse ended the moment of comic relief when he finally managed to open the paper, read it through, and pass it to a smartly dressed goat standing beneath his stand.

"If madam clerk would please read out the verdict," declared the judge.

"Thank you, your Honor," replied the goat with an English accent.

The court clerk swiftly made her way to the stand, put on her reading glasses, and held up the slip the judge gave her. The courtroom fell silent with anticipation.

"Case number GR-9, City of Zootopia versus former mayor Dawn Bellwether. Based on the evidence presented to the court by Prosecutor Edgewolf and witness testimony from Mr. Nick Wilde and Officer Judy Hopps, as of September 28, 2016, the jury finds the defendant guilty of conspiracy, all sixteen cases of drugging a mammal without consent, attempted second degree murder, assaulting a peace officer, attempted evasion of arrest, and two counts of jaywalking. So say we all."

"Madam clerk, will you please poll our jury?"

"Yes, your Honor. Mr. Pawson, was this your verdict? Ms. Hartfur, was this your verdict?..."

As the clerk asked each of the eight jurors to confirm the verdict, Judy felt as if the stress over the Night Howler case that weighed on her heart and mind crumbled and fell to the floor, piece by piece. It's finally over. She looked around, acknowledging the diversity in the audience and the jury. Judy then turned her gaze over the Bellwether. Her back was turned to the crowd, but Judy could imagine a twisted, angry scowl on the ewe's face, not that much different from the one she gave to Judy as the bunny supposedly was about to be mauled to death by the fox. Judy couldn't help but smile at Bellwether's predicament.

"Carrots, your grin is starting to scare me," said Nick in a playful tone.

"Oh shut up, Nick. I know you're smiling on the inside," Judy jabbed back.

"Order, order," declared the mouse, hammering his oversized gavel.

The duo both looked up. The clerk had just finished confirming the verdict and the courtroom apparently was becoming a little too chatty.

"The sentencing hearing for Ms. Dawn Bellwether shall be held tomorrow at 10 o'clock AM in Courtroom 5. That is all. This court is adjourned"

* * *

Courtroom Foyer; 5:00 PM

Nick and Judy struggled to make their way out of the courtroom. The noisy crowd of journalists and spectators from the trial was simply too dense to go through to reach the main entrance. Instead, they did their best to squeeze their way out the side of the crowd as it fanned out.

"Shall we look for a side exit, Carrots?"

"Yeah, good idea. Not really interested in talking to the press anyway."

"I understand."

The two quickly made their way towards a corridor. When they walked in, a familiar wolf in a gray suit, trenchcoat, and fedora turned the corner at the end. It was the prosecutor. He gave them a wide grin as soon as he saw them approach.

"Oh hello! Mr. Wilde. Officer Hopps. I want to say, nice job on the witness stand yesterday. I've never heard more airtight testimonies than yours."

The pair smiled.

"Well, I guess now I know why I was suffocating half the tri- Ow!" joked Nick before his partner elbowed him hard in the arm. The wolf didn't seem offended.

"Ha ha, very funny. By the way, I've never formally introduced myself," said the wolf, holding out a paw, "Francis Edgewolf, Zootopia District Attorney."

Nick grabbed Edgewolf's paw and shook it.

"Nice to meet you sir."

Judy hesitated in thought for a second before taking the paw after Nick released it.

"Pleasure's...all mine," she said.

Edgewolf looked up at the crowd behind the duo, which was slowly thinning out.

"Aren't you two going to talk to the press? They're probably dying to ask some questions to the animals who cracked the case."

"Based on past experience, I think we'll pass," Judy answered carefully.

The wolf chuckled.

"I understand. In that case, nearest exit is to the right at the end of the hall. Take care."

Thanking the wolf, Nick and Judy turned the corner and headed off for the exit. As soon as they turned the corner, Nick looked back, and then down at Judy, who was deep in thought and taking the occasional glance back at where the wolf used to be standing.

"What's on your mind, Carrots?"

"There's something about that wolf. I'll have to look into it later. How did the job interview go?"

The look on Nick's face dulled as he carefully thought out his answer.

"I think it's safe to say it got tossed…"

Judy started to glance down in disappointment.

"...into the basket labeled 'yes'. I'm in, Carrots! I'm shipping out for the Academy in two days, Fluff!"

A surge of joy shot up Judy's spine.

"You!...You almost got me! Dumb fox!"

"Oh, you definitely fell for it, Dumb bunny."

Realizing that they were both once again at a stalemate, the two simply laughed as they walked out the side door at the end of the hall. However, the bunny was slowly able to recall a recent memory after her painful resignation last month...

* * *

Zootopia City Hall, Outside Mayor's Office; 6:20 PM, One month ago.

Judy shuffled down the corridor in tears, with her back towards Bellwethers office. All she could think about was how she had ruined the dream of Zootopia. She looked around to see predators of all sizes carrying boxes loaded with personal belongings out of their respective offices. She hung her head low to avoid eye contact, only to glance at the blank spot on her kevlar vest where her cherished badge used to be.

Preoccupied with her thoughts, she almost didn't see a wolf come out of an office door right in front of her, hauling a stack of boxes. Neither of them noticed each other until Judy almost got stepped on.

"Gah!" exclaimed Judy as she leaped out of the way.

"Whoa!" cried out the wolf as he frantically struggled to avoid stepping on the bunny.

Despite the wolf's attempts to regain his balance, the weight of the stack of boxes he was carrying caused him to topple with it like a tree and hit the floor with a sickening, painful thud. The stack quickly fell apart and the boxes all broke open as they hit the ground, spilling thick books and file folders everywhere. The bewildered wolf laboriously sat up in pain.

"Holy roach sausages. What just happened?" he asked.

"Oh sweet cheese and crackers! I am so sorry, sir! Let me help you out." Judy said quickly as she blindly started picking up books and papers. When she dared to glance down at what she was carrying, label belonging to a file folder near the top of the stack caught her eye. _AM-8_. But before Judy could complete another thought, the wolf had stood up and gently snatched away the book stack she was carrying.

"I appreciate the help, officer, but I think I can handle it," he said politely, and as if nothing happened at all, the wolf gathered what books and files he could carry and headed for the elevator.

Judy glanced over to where the wolf had come from. The name tag was missing, but wooden door was labeled in big black letters _Zootopia District Attorney_. A brief inquisitive thought began to form in Judy's mind, but then Judy remembered that she no longer had her badge, nor did she want it back anytime soon. As Judy continued to shuffle towards the elevators, the short spark of curiosity died like a starving candle.

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 **I hope you all liked this chapter, and I will continue to post new chapters as I finish them!**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

ZPD Precinct One, Bullpen; 8:30 AM, One week later

"Alright! Settle down, Everyone!" thundered a voice from the front of the room.

Chief Bogo turned to face the crowd from his podium. All the cops in the room sat at attention, awaiting their assignments. Judy was still forced to stand on her chair in order to see.

"Now I've got three items on the docket. First, I would like to extend my congratulations to Officer Hopps, whose case has just been closed last week with the culprit, former mayor Bellwether, sentenced to fifty years in solitary confinement."

Judy couldn't help but bear a massive grin as the rest of the room nodded at her with respect and admiration.

"Next, we have some new recruits, including our first rodents… Who cares?"

The audience sniggered with slight amusement. Judy glanced over her shoulder and saw two rats and a shrew in police uniforms standing on the table behind her.

"Finally, assignments. Officers McHorn, Grizoli, Higgens: We have received intel about pickpockets in Savannah Central. Officers Delgato, Wolford, Fangmeyer: Canal District customs enforcement. Officers Jerrel, Nibbles, Mouskawitz: I need you to stake out a possible nip storehouse in Tundratown. And finally, Officer Hopps: record keeping. Dismissed."

A shock of frustration hit Judy in the head like a hammer. _What?! WHAT?!_ She immediately leaped over the table as the rest of the officers filed out of the Bullpen.

"Chief! I want to know why I've been sent downstairs," the rabbit demanded.

The buffalo responded with an uncharacteristically sly grin.

"I knew you would take the bait, Hopps. Follow me. Your real assignment is off the books," he replied in a softened voice, as if he didn't want to be overheard.

Judy followed the buffalo out of the briefing room into his office, who then sat down at his desk and gestured towards a chair.

"Have a seat, Hopps."

She took the seat. Bogo handed her a manila envelope, which Judy carefully opened. It contained a briefing report, blank case documents, empty evidence bags, and other items normally found in the red binders he gave to the other officers.

"Hopps, I have come to know many cops in my career. But you are the one I trust the most. This is a very important case, and I need someone I trust to get to the bottom of this."

"So, why the secrecy?"

"Because you could be investigating the ZPD itself."

Judy looked down into to the envelope in thought. _What does he need to know on the force that he cannot find out about himself?_

"Are you ready for your briefing?"

"I'm ready."

"I've been hearing of talk among the high-ups of every police division in Zootopia, talk of disappearing case files and pieces of evidence stolen from department records. Two months ago, I was informed that a certain case report was forged. Clawhauser reported it and everything else related to the case stolen a week later during his brief tenure in records. And yesterday, Captain Kovu from Precinct Nine confirmed that his department record keeper was found dead in their basement, and several other case files have gone missing."

"I don't mean to interrupt, but what happened in AM-8?"

"It was a murder case in City Hall that went cold four months ago. I would tell you more if we still had the case file."

"Any idea on motive? Nobody would steal case files without reason."

"That's for you to find out. I assigned you to records so you'd have unrestricted access to everything in every police record in Zootopia without drawing attention. From now on, you report only to me, and I expect you to do so when you have a solid lead. Dismissed."

Without anything else to say, Judy got up, saluted the chief, and turned towards the door.

"And one more thing, Hopps," said the buffalo.

Judy turned around to look at Chief Bogo. His face was back to its usual grouchy expression.

"Nothing makes me see red more than finding out one of my colleagues is secretly in the dirt. Trust no one."

* * *

ZPD Precinct One, Records Department; 9:03 AM

As Judy descended down the winding staircase to the records department, the lighting grew dimmer and dimmer. When she reached the bottom, she could barely see what was around her; the room was dark as night. She blindly felt the wall for a light switch, and when she found it, it was just low enough for her to reach up on her toes and flick it on. As soon as she did, the room was suddenly flooded with light, as if it appeared out of nowhere.

"GAAHHH!" a male voice cried out in agony.

Judy was immediately taken aback, and turned to face the source of the scream. From behind a desk in front of her littered with open files and loose papers, an ocelot sat up in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He then frantically looked around.

"Wha-wha? Who's there?! Ah wasn't napping, Chief! Ah was just, uh… resting my eyes… and my arms and my legs!" he said desperately in a Western accent.

He then looked over at the bunny standing in front of the stairs. He put on a pair of sunglasses.

"Oh. It's my replacement. Please knock on the wall before you turn all the lights on next time. Sergeant Octavius Prowlsmith, currently ZPD record keeper and soon-to-be Precinct Nine records manager."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm-"

"Officer Judy Hopps. Everyone knows your name now, pardner! Even us records folk down in the department basements! Kinda strange that Bogo would assign his star bunny to records though, if you ask me."

"Yeah. Strange indeed."

"Anyhoo, Ah guess Ah better show you the ropes. Come over here, will ya?"

Judy approached Prowlsmith's desk. The ocelot used his arm to laboriously brush aside a pile of empty documents. He then pulled out an unused case folder and opened it.

"As Ah think you know, it's a common department courtesy for field officers to organize their case reports before turning them over to records, but just in case they're not feeling courteous (they usually aren't), we have to run through them before puttin'em away, he said as he flipped through the folder, "Case report with the evidence list goes on top, followed by individual officer reports, and everything else goes in their respective tabs. Now follow me."

The ocelot gracefully leaped out of his chair and strode towards the back of the room. As Judy followed him, she looked around the tall room. She saw rows and rows of shelves stocked with binders. The walls of the room contained column after column of round metal drawers with black scanner pads on them in the place of handles. The ocelot turned into a corridor between two bookshelves and turned around to face Judy.

"Everything in these shelves are alphabetized. And all those evidence drawers require a keeper's key card to open. They pop open automatically if you place the card's barcode over the scanner, and the time it was opened and the person who opened it is recorded in the department database."

"Can that data be erased?" inquired the bunny

"Ah dunno. That info is above my paygrade."

Judy decided to switch strategies.

"One of the officers told me to look into what we've got on the AM-8 Incident."

The ocelot's cheerful demeanor vanished.

"It's gotta be Halberd again, isn't it? That bear just wouldn't let it go."

"Why?" asked Judy. She assumed that she already knew the answer, but it paid to hear it from another viewpoint.

"That was the case that ruined his career. Some speculate that it went cold because he got careless with the evidence. Those allegations were never proven, but it was clear that that was his last rodeo. He's been put on meter maid duty ever since Bogo closed the case three months ago, and to this day, he continues to investigate in his spare time. The fact that the files were stolen has only emboldened him, but there's nothing left that he hasn't seen."

"Halberd wants me to run through everything on AM-8 for him so he could look for a new angle through me," said Judy, not wanting her lies to sound suspicious.

"Well, sad day for you, cause the file and all the evidence have disappeared."

"There has to be something left!"

Prowlsmith frowned and thought long and hard. He then walked out of the aisle and turned to look at the computer on his desk.

"If Ah can recall, AM-8 mighta been one of the few cases we were able to digitize before the superintendent put it on hold for security reasons. Let's look for it."

They both headed back to the ocelot's desk and woke up the computer from sleep. The pause screen for Scar Wars: Battlefront appeared. Seeing Judy's look of disappointment at him, Prowlsmith immediately flashed a nervous grin as he closed the window.

"Erm, don't mind that!"

He then clicked on a police shield desktop shortcut, which opened a navy blue window that contained a lattice of filled file folder icons. As the ocelot scrolled down the lattice of folders, Judy noticed that the scroll bar was barely moving.

"Aha! This one's it." said Prowlsmith as he hovered the mouse over the only filled file folder icon in its row; all the other ones in and below the row were labelled, but empty, "Ah musta been in the middle of transferring data for that particular case when the digitizing was put on hold. You lucky fluff!"

Judy winced at the comment. It was only slightly less offensive than being called 'cute.' Prowlsmith didn't seem to notice. He then strolled over to the stairs, his work done.

"Hopefully this will be enough to satisfy the bear. Anyway, Ah'm heading upstairs. Gotta grab a donut before Clawhauser eats them all. Ah heard the donuts today are handmade and not the factory crap that Bogo orders every mornin'. Want one?"

"No, I think I'm okay."

"Alright then. Catch ya later!"

The ocelot didn't hesitate to start running up the stairs on all fours. As soon as she could no longer hear rapidly fading footsteps, Judy leaped up into and sat in Prowlsmith's chair and opened the file folder labelled 'AM-8.'


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey Everyone! 440 Views and counting, woohoo! I would like to thank everyone for their support so far, and boy is this fun!**

 **I noticed that I left a few time inconsistencies in the last few chapters, so I went back and made some minor edits so you guys have a better idea of when this story is taking place. It's not easy when you're planning to do a flashback or two, I'll have to say.**

 **Anyhoo, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 3

ZPD Precinct One, Records Department; 9:30 AM

As soon as Judy clicked on the AM-8 file folder, only one document labelled 'case summary' appeared on the navy blue window. She moved the cursor over and opened it. The PDF was barely a page long and only filled halfway.

 **Case #: AM-8**  
 **Incident: Homicide**  
 **Head Investigator: Rufus Halberd**  
 **Victim: Casey Karson (goat)**  
 **Suspect: Black Watterson**  
 **Witnesses: None**

 **Investigation Summary:**  
 **On May 17, 11:09 PM, in the lobby of City Hall, legal clerk Casey Karson was found badly mauled in front of a fountain. He died at the scene before EMTs could arrive. The security cameras in the building were offline when the incident occurred, but the claw marks on the body resemble those belonging to a black bear. In the weeks following the attacks, every black bear seen in the area was questioned, with their claws tested for blood. No new leads came up, and the prime suspect disappeared on the night of the incident. After four weeks of investigation and an unsuccessful mammal hunt, at the behest of police superintendent Kancil Chevrotain, Chief Bogo froze the case on June 14.**

 **Victim Data:**  
 **Casey Karson was a legal clerk from the Zootopia District Attorney's office. He was mauled at roughly 10:57 PM. He was pronounced dead at the scene from exsanguination at 11:11 PM through multiple deep slash wounds to the torso, chest, and neck. The claw marks match closely with that from black bears.**

 **Suspect Data:**  
 **Black Watterson was a night shift security guard at City Hall. He disappeared on the night of the incident. But without any solid evidence to back up the case against him, and with the fact that he has literally vanished without a trace, the lead went cold.**

 **Evidence List:**  
 **-Victim's Autopsy**  
 **-Fur samples with DNA sequenced; confirmed to be from a black bear**  
 **-Punch clock data: Watterson clocked in for work at 7:00 PM, but never clocked out.**

Judy reread the case file a few times. As she reviewed the case summary, her detective's mind got to work. _What happened in AM-8 could have something to do with the missing cases,_ she thought. _I should find out what Halberd has been complaining about, besides the fact that this report's pathetically short_.

With that, Judy quickly printed the document folded it up into her pocket, and rushed back upstairs. Judy didn't remember the winding staircase being so long, but she realized how bright the records room lights were when she noticed that the stairwell began to seem to dim, even though the light intensity on the first basement floor didn't change. Except for a zebra police officer to her right standing guard by the door to the detention block, hallway at the top of the stairs was largely deserted when she reached the top. It was by no means quiet, though, as the door did nothing to block the noise coming from the suspects' energized, filthy chatter in their holding cells. Judy turned left towards the elevator when she heard the detention block door open. An unpleasantly familiar voice erupted an outburst as Officer McHorn came into the hall, dragging behind him a familiar weasel in pawcuffs.

"Hey hey hey! Watch the tail, horn-head!"

"Just shut your goddamn trap, Weselton!"

"For the LAST TIME! It's WEASELTON! Screw you, rhino-brain!"

When Judy pressed the button for the elevator, the weasel turned around and saw the bunny.

"Well, well, if it isn't Flopsy the Copsy. The folk back in the cell block told me you was kicked down to records. I guess on top for once!"

Judy flashed the weasel a death glare, which made him jump back a bit. The elevator door opened, and the bunny casually walked in and pressed the button for the ground floor.

"Don't worry about him, Hopps. We'll take the next one," said McHorn.

As the doors closed, Weaselton took one last shot to rile up the bunny.

"Enjoy your dusty books, Cottontail!"

Judy simply ignored him as the elevator began to rise. _At least nobody knows why I'm down there._ The elevator bell rang as it reached the ground floor, and Judy strolled out as soon as the doors opened.

The reception room was busy as usual. Clawhauser the flabby cheetah was at his desk, with his usual bowl of Lucky Chomps, and idolizing Gazelle on his phone. A few rhinos and a tiger walked out of the cubicle room towards the front door.

"Wow! You are one hot dancer. _Benjamin Clawhauser_!" said the cheetah's phone.

Judy smiled and rolled her eyes as she turned towards the reception desk.

"Morning Clawhauser! Any doughnuts left?"

The cheetah's once smiling face disappeared and his eyes widened in surprise and mouth dropped open in embarrassment.

"Wait, you wanted one too?" he asked, gazing apologetically at the stack of empty doughnut boxes on the side of his desk.

"Never mind that. Is Halberd still in the station?"

"Haven't seen him leave the office yet. If you hurry, you can catch him before he heads out."

"Great! Thanks!"

Judy immediately sprinted as fast as her bunny legs could carry her through the door to the cubicles. The doorway and the first few cubicle entrances whizzed by like a blurr. When Judy turned a corner, though, she ran face-first into a big, black, immovable, furry leg.

"Whoa, slow down, Hopps!"

It was Halberd. Judy looked up and saw the black bear wearing a meter maid vest and a peaked cap.

"Halberd. We need to talk."

"Sorry, Hopps, but I'm already late for my shift-"

"I need to know what happened in AM-8. Bogo wants an accurate stand-in case file until the original can be recovered."

The black bear looked at the bunny with sharp, but tired skepticism.

"Well, I suppose I can spare another few minutes. My career is deep enough in the toilet as it is," he relented.

Judy followed Halberd into his cubicle. Except for a cheap-looking chair in the corner and a department computer and a ticket writer on his desk, the workspace was completely bare. Nothing hung on the cubicle walls, which was surprising, considering that many other officers' cubicles, Judy's included, had walls covered with suspect profiles, sticky notes, calendars, and other important items, as well as the occasional family photo.

The bear turned to face the rabbit.

"So, what about AM-8 would you like to know?"

"I need you to run through this case summary and fill in any gaps."

She handed him the printout. The bear's eyes lit up like flares and a smile broke across his face as he took the paper. But the smile quickly deflated into concern as he read it.

"Is, everything alright?" asked Judy.

Halberd looked up at Judy, who was sitting nearby on his desk.

"Hah! The stand-in is even worse than the original!" he said with a smile.

He refolded the paper and set it aside. He then pulled up the chair in his space and sat down.

"Perhaps I should start from the top on what happened in that case five months ago. I hope you're seated comfortably and recording this, Officer Hopps, because it's going to be a long morning."

Judy pulled out her phone and turned on the voice recorder. The carrot pen was Nick's now, as per their deal.

"Go"

* * *

Savannah Central, Snarlbucks Joint; 10:50 PM, Five months ago.

'Open 24/7,' says the sign on the window of Zootopia's most popular coffee joint, and a certain black bear couldn't be happier. _God I hate the night shift_ , thought Halberd as he walked into the establishment. He always did. Some tell him that it's very ironic, since black bears are nocturnal. However, when he still needs to wear sunglasses while patrolling a well-lit city that never sleeps, it's no better for his eyes than the daytime. He halfheartedly approached the ordering counter, staffed by a donkey.

"I'll have an venti espresso, extra honey," he ordered.

"Ya sure ya need somethin' that strong, pal?" the barista relented.

"Just make the drink, smartass*." grumbled Halberd.

"Uh-huh, that'll be five bucks"

The grouchy bear quietly handed the donkey the money, and stepped aside to wait by the pickup counter. _Aw come on! I'm nocturnal, so I don't need coffee? Get a life,_ he thought. He looked around and noticed that the coffee shop was completely deserted except for himself and that barista, and felt a tinge of regret for insulting him. A loud hiss from the coffee press broke his train of thought. The barista set down on the counter a tall white paper coffee cup with a black lid.

"One honey espresso, for one grouchy bear. Enjoy," he said lazily.

Halberd picked it up and left some coinage on the countertop as a tip before heading out the door. _At least he doesn't have to be a jerk about it,_ he thought as he stepped into his police cruiser.

"Attention all units, we have a reported disturbance at city hall. Savage roars heard. Proceed with caution." a female voice crackled on the radio.

The bear quickly, but carefully set down his coffee and picked up his radio.

"This is Lieutenant Halberd. I am en route."

"Roger that, Halberd. And try not to spill the coffee."

"Very funny, dispatch."

Halberd flipped on the car's sirens and flashing lights and raced towards City Hall, not knowing what could lay ahead.

* * *

*it's not swearing when you're referring to an actual donkey!

 **Cliffhangers, I know, right? Next chapter will be up soon!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! I'm back with another chapter.**

 **I had to make some minor edits to previous chapters to make the dates and times more consistent and correct misspelled names.** **I'm still feeling around to see what I'm able to do, and I hope you all enjoy this flashback centered around my first fully original character!**

 **UPDATE: Just did some research. Turns out Fangmeyer is female.**

* * *

Chapter 4

Savannah Central Oasis, Outside City Hall; 10:58 PM

Sirens wailing, Halberd pulled his police cruiser over in front of the skyscraper that is City Hall, and loaded his tranquilizer pistol. He got out and took a few minutes to take in his surroundings. The lights in downtown were as bright as ever. He gazed up at the tall, white, organic-looking building in front of him. Its nocturnal elegance continued to amaze him despite the fact that he lost count the number of times he had seen it in his thirteen-year career. He then turned and watched the lights of square illuminate the geysers in the oasis in all sorts of exquisite colors. The Oasis Square was within less than a two minute drive away for him, but the ZPD Headquarters is just across the square, so Halberd was surprised to find only a handful of officers securing the perimeter when he arrived. He spotted Officer Rhinowitz standing at the foot of the stairs, and immediately ran over to talk to him.

"Anyone gone inside yet?"

"The night guard hasn't unlocked the door yet, all the other nearby field officers are rushing back here as we speak, and the guys on desk duty are having trouble finding the spare key and the battering ram, so no sir," answered the baritone rhino.

Halberd sighed in exasperation.

"Did it ever occur to you that you can use your head?" he asked.

"Um… not really," replied Rhinowitz, embarrassed.

"Come on, man! Someone could be dying in there!"

"Right! Right! EVERYBODY STAND BACK FROM THE DOOR!"

The rhino bowed his head forward and charged toward the glass door yelling, with Halberd following behind him. He ran up the stairs and as soon as he was on level ground with the door, he closed his eyes, and rammed the top of his head, horn first, against the glass door, which completely shattered with a loud crash.

Halberd heard more sirens and turned to see two more cruisers park next to his own. A wolf and a lion got out of one of them and the other, a tigress and a rhino. They all had their tranquilizers drawn as they ran up the stairs to Halberd.

"What's our move, L-T?" asked the wolf.

"Wolford! Delgato! Cover the back exits. Fangmeyer, Spikeson! Sweep the balconies. Rhinowitz! We're clearing the ground floor. Move out!"

All of the other officers ran off to their posts. Halberd turned towards the rhino he assigned to cover his back.

"How's the head, Rhinowitz?"

"Heh. Good thing I can still shoot straight," replied the rhino with a smile as he loaded his dart gun.

Weapons in hand, the two proceeded into the lobby. The tall room was as dark as the night outside, with the only light from the moon and Oasis Square illuminating the lobby through the windows and skylights. Halberd spotted two flashlights on the second floor balcony at the back of the lobby belonging to Fangmeyer and Spikeson moving back and forth across the walls. A marble fountain sat in the middle of the room. Its geysers were turned off, but the there was enough water in the pool for Halberd to see a reflection of the ceiling from ten feet away. The two slowly approached the fountain, and saw a limp figure sitting on the floor and leaning its back against the stone side of the fountain pool. Halberd lowered his tranquilizer and fast-walked over to the body. It was a young male goat, and he was sitting in a growing puddle of his own blood. Trying to avoid stepping in the blood, the bear bent down to get the goat's attention.

"Officer Halberd, ZPD. What's your name, son?" he asked

"Casey Karson," the goat weakly replied.

"Well, Mr. Karson. You're safe now. Help is on the way."

Rhinowitz pulled out his radio.

"Dispatch, this is Rhinowitz. We have a civilian in critical condition. Multiple slash wounds. We need an ambulance at City Hall ASAP."

"Roger that."

"Also, call in SWAT to clear the upper levels."

"Negative on that. Wolford here. Back exit door was busted off its hinges before we got there. I suggest we set up a perimeter."

"I hear you, Wolford. Calling SWAT to set up a four mile perimeter. Nobody's escaping," said the female dispatcher.

While the other officers were deliberating on perimeters, Halberd continued to try to reassure the goat. The bear noticed that he suffered deep, potentially fatal slash wounds across his chest, abdomen, and neck, and he was rapidly losing blood.

"Who did this to you?" he asked softly

Casey struggled to speak as his neck leaked more blood.

"No… escape… Eyes… everywhere… Beware… the Shadow…"

The goat then exhaled his last breath, and Halberd's heart sank as he watched the light in his eyes faded out. Halberd reached out with two fingers and placed them on an undamaged part of Casey's throat. _No pulse._ He then slowly stood up and turned towards the rhino behind him

"Rhinowitz, what time is it?"

"Eleven eleven, sir."

"Remember that time. I'm going to check the security office. Watch the body."

The bear then pulled out his tranquilizer and headed for the emergency stairwell to the basement while Rhinowitz called for a CSI unit on his radio.

Contrary to what he originally believed, the basement hallways were actually very well lit. However, with its slightly chipped-away white paint on the walls and overhead spaghetti of pipes and wiring, it's still an old basement hallway. Without a partner to watch his back, Halberd made frequent glances behind him as he moved forward to make sure he wasn't being tailed. The bear then made a left turn around a corner and found a room with the door slightly open. He eased the door open until the gap was big enough for him to slip through. He quickly scanned the room for signs of life. There was a long desk sitting under a left wall covered with security monitors. He then immediately spun around to check if anyone was hiding behind the door. No one there. Rhinowitz's voice crackled on Halberd's radio.

"Sir. SWAT's arrived."

"Copy that," replied the bear, "we have a missing night guard. Scour the upper levels."

"Sir, I just received word that the mayor is also in the building with his security detail. Their orders are to to to evac him from the premises."

"Tell them to keep an eye out for the night guard."

Halberd noticed a picture of a black bear in a white security guard uniform tacked on the back wall.

"He's a male black bear in a white uniform."

"Got it, sir."

The bear took his time to investigate the security office. A black peaked cap and jacket were resting on a metal coat rack sitting in the corner opposite by the door. Next to the rack was the main desk placed against the side wall. A computer screen sat at the center of the desktop amid a mess of snack food wrappers and grease-stained documents. A half-empty box of cockroach pizza sat at the corner of the desk. The screen's power LED was on and yellow, so Halberd pulled out the keyboard tray and moved the mouse to wake the computer. The once black screen flickered on to reveal a stark desktop with only a few folders and shortcut icons. He moved the cursor over to an icon that is a red, green, blue, and yellow 'Z' on an eye, and opened Zoogle Eyewitness, the building's security camera software. A beige window appeared, and, lined in rows of four, were several dozen large camera icons. Halberd scrolled down until he found icons with 'Lobby' in their labels, and clicked on one called 'Lobby Balcony Cam.' A small warning window with a password text box appeared that said 'Oops! Password needed to view this data.' Halberd cringed with disappointment. _Apparently not just anyone could play back security footage_ , he thought.

Halberd lifted his head up to observe the security monitors on the wall above him. He watched the lobby camera feeds as several wildebeest CSI personnel zipped up Casey Karson's body while a few other sorrowful officers looked on. Halberd's attention then turned to focus on the feed from outside the mayor's office on the building's top floor as five large SWAT officers in combat gear and armed with heavy guns cautiously opened the double doors and went inside. After several tense seconds, a female voice crackled on the bear's radio.

"This is Sergeant Ava Houndly. Mayor is secure, I repeat, mayor is secure."

"Halberd here. Good work. Any update on the night guard's whereabouts, Sarge?"

"Negative, L-T."

"Figures. Anyway, I need a tech officer to collect the data from the security cams. Hopefully they caught the suspect."

* * *

ZPD Precinct One, Officers' Cubicles; 10:25 AM, Present Day.

"... And, what became of the camera data?" asked Judy, phone in hand as a recorder.

The tired black bear leaned in and lowered his voice slightly.

"We managed to collect the footage onto a flash drive, but it went missing after I handed it off to the evidence crew, along with the tattered remains of a bear-sized night guard uniform. Lab techs later indicted the guard, Black Watterson, as the prime suspect, but he was never found. Eventually the case went cold without evidence and a suspect in custody, so naturally, the blame went to me for losing the flash drive, and I've been a meter maid ever since."

Judy silently spent a few minutes to take in over Halberd's story. She just needed one more detail to confirm her theory.

"One last question, Halberd. Who was the prosecutor assigned to help investigate?"

"D.A. Edgewolf, why-? Oh, wait-"

"HALBERD! WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?!" shouted an angry cape buffalo.

The bear immediately froze in terrified shock.

"Yipe! Never mind that, Hopps. This meter maid is gonna get canned if he doesn't get out, like, _right now_! See ya!"

And with that, the frightened bear dashed out of his workspace, and before Judy could stick her head out into the hall, he was already out the door into the lobby. Chief Bogo marched past Judy from his office on the other side of the room and opened the door to the lobby balcony.

"Don't you DARE come back until you've written TWO. HUNDRED. TICKETS!" he thundered.

Judy stopped recording and prepared herself to step up to Chief Bogo and explain Halberd's actions, but the stampede-stopping scowl on the buffalo's face instantly changed her mind. _I'll… do that later,_ she thought as an aggravated and steaming Bogo walked past. _For now, I have to pay a certain lawyer a visit_.

The bunny made her way down to the lobby and went out the front door overlooking the Oasis Square, which was bustling with activity as always. Judy then turned left and proudly strolled towards the department parking lot. But when she got to the lot, Judy gazed at her parking space with a crestfallen groan. Nobody can deny that she is now a real cop, but until the custom-built police interceptor that Bogo ordered for her is delivered in several months, she is still going to have to make do with the traffic cart that Nick had sarcastically coined the 'three-wheeled Jokemobile.'

* * *

 **I hope you all found this chapter thrilling and enjoyed it! The next one may take some time to finish.**

 **Anyway, until next time!**

 **P.S.** : It'd be very nice to leave a review ;-)


	6. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone!**

 **I'm not dead. Being the inexperienced rookie I am, I dove into one of the hardest literature genres without a complete plan, hence the logic pickle I was in after publishing the previous chapter. So I paused on the writing, thought through the rest of the plot, and now I know which way to go.**

* * *

Chapter 5

Savannah Central District Court; 10:56 AM

Judy drove down the ramp into the underground parking lot, even though nobody would bat an eye if she parked her car on the red curb. Her sense of responsibility would occasionally make her forget that she was an exception for some rules, like the fact that police vehicles were immune to ticketing. She circled the garage, which was roughly half full. Her memory recalled how full the place was during Bellwether's trial. _And a spectacle it proved to be_ , she thought as she parked the Jokemobile under an old giraffe-sized Mawzda hatchback. Judy immediately regretted her parking spot choice, as the underside reeked of old motor oil, or at least she thought that was old motor oil. Nevertheless, it was the safest spot in the garage for a vehicle as flimsy as a rabbit-sized traffic cart.

Judy quickly got out and walked over to the elevators. She pressed the button, and the doors instantly opened, and out streamed a crowd of various mammals chatting amongst themselves on the latest courtroom trial they had witnessed. Once the brief flood started to die down, Judy managed to squeeze between an antelope's legs into the elevator, much to its chagrin. She pressed the button for the first floor, and the elevator slowly lifted its way up from basement level three.

The elevator's door opened when it arrived on the first floor, and Judy stepped into a familiar tall, wide open lobby. The courthouse foyer was as bright as the sunny day outside, thanks to the entire half-dome shaped left side of the room where the front entrance was being made up entirely of hexagonal glass panels. A pair of escalators leading to the second floor were centered at the back of the foyer, dividing the wall in two, with a set of double doors leading to the satellite rooms of a courtroom on each half. As the bunny stepped onto the escalator going up, she took the chance to marvel at the foyer's design. The wide corridor had two more double doors on each of the two walls leading to other courtrooms. Judy counted six courtrooms in the building overall. She headed to the reception desk at the back of the room. Oh sweet cheese and crackers, she thought as she facepalmed. The desk was manned by a sloth. _No wonder no one is asking him questions!_ Steeling herself, the bunny approached the receptionist.

"Uh, excuse me!" she said.

The sloth slowly pulled himself up to peer over the desk.

"Hello… How… may I… help…"

"I need to speak to-"

"… you?"

Judy cringed with annoyance.

"I need to speak to District Attorney Francis Edgewolf."

"Do… you… have an… appointment…"

"N-"

"… scheduled?"

"No… but I'm on official police business, so I need to know where he is."

"Okay… District… Attorney… Edgewolf's… office number… is… three…...two… seven…"

"Thank y-"

"… A."

"Thank y-"

"Elevators… are… on your… left…"

"Thank y-"

"Have… a nice… day…"

"Thank-"

"… Officer… Hopps."

Not willing to try thanking the sloth again, Judy marched off to the left block elevator. She pressed the button for the third floor, and the elevator slowly rose up to reach its destination. When the door opened, Judy walked out and strolled along the balcony overlooking the corridor she was on earlier and counted the office numbers. She turned a corner into a corridor, still following the office numbers as they increased. _Three two-five. Three two-six. Aha! Three two seven!_

Judy turned the knob and opened the door, which led to a reception office. A pretty arctic vixen who appeared to be in her mid-20s sat behind a small desk flipping through legal documents. _Glad Nick isn't here,_ she thought, trying to imagine how the fox would react if he had a crush.

"Can I help you, Officer?" the vixen asked with a smile as she took off her reading glasses, revealing a pair of radiant blue eyes.

"I'm here to talk to Mr. Edgewolf. I don't have an appointment, but this is police business."

"I'm sorry, Officer Hopps, but Mr. Edgewolf is currently packing up his things in his satellite office at City Hall. He'll be back tomorrow, but if you need something right now, I will help you the best I can."

Judy sighed. I guess I'll take what I can get. She took out her notepad and the new carrot pen she bought on the way to the courthouse and sat down across from the vixen.

"Mind if I ask you a few questions, Miss…?"

"Reynard, Athena Reynard. I'll be happy to help."

"Miss Reynard, can you tell me a bit about yourself and Mr. Edgewolf?"

"I am Mr. Edgewolf's personal assistant. He was the only prosecutor in Zootopia willing to take a fox as his apprentice for the Judicial Mentor Program after I graduated from law school two years ago. I already considered myself very lucky, since very few foxes get further than a high school diploma. The foxes who do manage to graduate from college tend to go into law, like myself. But Mr. Edgewolf is very nice boss, and he has given me many opportunities to jumpstart my career. He is even arranging for me to receive my first case within a few months! I'm probably going to be Zootopia's first practicing fox prosecutor!"

"He seems to trust you as much as I trust Nick, and I'd trust him with my life."

"Your partner? I saw him at the trial and on television," Athena said, blushing a little under her white fur, "Where is he now?"

"He's at police academy."

"Wow, that's so great! You guys make a great team!"

"Thanks! So did your boss tell you anything about AM-8?"

Athena looked around and thought hard.

"Mr Edgewolf trusts me a lot, though I have to admit that he doesn't tell me everything sometimes."

"What do you know?"

"When it comes to case details, I don't know much more than the average citizen. But I did notice that he worked more closely with Mayor Lionheart after the incident, meeting with him regularly, calling him about business, and even gaining a small private office next door to him in City Hall, which he used as a satellite office. He seemed to prefer that over his main office here until Bellwether tried to fire him during the Night Howler Incident. Obviously, she failed, but he couldn't regain that office, so he's been moving his stuff back here since last week."

Judy quickly jotted down what the vixen said in her notebook and looked up.

"Can you tell me more about his satellite office?" she asked

"All I know is that besides a few select mammals, he never accepted visitors through that office."

"Thank you for your time, Ms. Reynard"

"Anytime, Officer Hopps. I'll schedule you an appointment for tomorrow. And please, call me Thena."

"Okay, and you can call me Judy."

"How does 10:20 tomorrow morning sound?"

"Perfect."

Judy got up and left the office. As she walked down the corridor to the elevator, she pulled out her phone and began texting Chief Bogo.

 **Judy:** I have a lead. Need help arranging visit with Leodore Lionheart.

The bunny didn't have to wait long for a reply, which came as soon as she stepped into the elevator.

 **Chief Bogo:** What for?

 **Judy:** Contents of am-8 may be crucial to finding missing files. He may know something.

 **Chief Bogo:** No problem. Will reply with visiting time soon.

Judy pocketed her phone as the elevator door opened on the second floor, and Judy made her way down the corridor and escalator towards the first floor elevator to the parking garage below. She glanced at her watch. 11:42. It's almost lunch break.

* * *

McDonkey's, Savannah Central; 12:00 PM

"Hi! I'll have a medium McVeggie Burger meal with a small alfalfa fries and a regular Coca-Koala, please," Judy requested to a drive-thru order machine.

"Kzzt! That'll be all?"

"Yep."

"Nine bucks."

Judy inched her traffic cart forward, closely following behind the mouse car in front of her. The driver of the little car pulled over to a tiny pickup window built into the curb to collect their order. Judy looked up and saw a sign hanging from the side of the restaurant that said 'One car at a time, regardless of size.' Judy looked back down above the mouse-height window and saw another order window for smaller mammals like her, an even bigger one above it for larger mammals, and above that on the roof, a robotic arm for handing orders to giraffes.

"Next!" a voice called out.

Judy's attention turned towards the second-lowest window. The voice came from a headset-wearing ferret sticking his head out the window. Judy quickly pulled up to the order window. The ferret gasped in disbelief.

"Whoa! Are you Officer Judy Hopps?"

"Uh, yeah."

"O. M. Goodness. I am talking to the Officer Judy Hopps, Zootopia's biggest hero!"

"Oh, no, I was just doing my job."

The ferret rambled on, oblivious.

"Wow, this is so cool! Hey guys! Judy Hopps is right at my order window!"

The kitchens behind the ferret suddenly erupted.

"Whoa! Seriously?"

"That's awesome!"

"Can I have her autograph?"

"I still won't forgive her for that press confer-"

"SHUT UP, Wade! She's right outside!"

Judy sat nervously in her seat.

"Um…" she began, trying not to be impolite.

The ferret immediately noticed.

"Oh whoops! Heh, sorry about that. Here's your lunch," he said, handing the bunny a white paper bag and a soda cup, "It's on us."

"Uh, thanks…?"

"I'm not pitching in for that!" a voice cried out from the kitchen.

"Sweet cheese and crackers, we know, Wade!" a female voice replied in annoyance from the same place.

Judy didn't waste another minute in the drive thru and accelerated back on the road to find a parking spot to stop and eat, which was difficult. She circled multiple blocks lined with cars of all sizes until she found a small gap between two Zooyota sedans just big enough for her traffic cart to squeeze inside. Judy pulled into the gap and opened the paper sack. She reached in and grabbed her burger. She then realized that it has been only five days and she already missed her best friend. Releasing her food, Judy put the bag aside and checked her email on her phone. She got a new message from Nick. She opened the email and read it:

From: nwilde  
To: jhopps

Subject: Not Dead Yet

I was hoping that I could just spend the whole morning writing this, because now I know what it would be like to be in high school P.E. all day. I'm sore all over from running, and I think I still have sand from our first day on the Sahara Course stuck in some places I didn't even know I had. I'm not gonna quit, though. If you have any tips on staying alive, I'm all ears!

Nick.

Judy glanced at her watch. Twenty-five minutes left to eat. I'll reply later. She pocketed the phone and reached back into her bag to grab her lunch, when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Ugh. She set aside her food once again and pulled out her phone. It was a text from Chief Bogo.

 **Chief Bogo:** Meeting scheduled for 2pm today at Iceberg Penitentiary in Tundratown. Don't be late!

 **Judy:** ok thanks

Judy sighed as she pocketed her phone again and quietly ate her burger, thinking about what to ask the former mayor, and the fact that she couldn't wait to muzzletime with Nick after clocking out of work.

* * *

 **I would really like to know what you guys think and how I am doing, so please leave a review! It would be very much appreciated.**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Iceberg Penitentiary, Tundratown; 1:30 PM.

Judy followed a buffalo prison guard down the brightly lit corridor to the visiting room. They turn a corner and walked in. Judy went up to a counter and sat down. A familiar lion in blue prison garb was led to the seat across from her behind the large glass window separating her from the inmate side. She reached out to her right and grabbed a phone. The lion did the same on his left.

"So, is it you talk first or I talk first?" he asked the bunny.

"Firstly, no hard feelings about Cliffside, right?"

"No, no, not at all. You were just doing your job."

"Great. So, I need to talk to you about the AM-8 case."

The request confused the lion.

"From what I've heard, it's already been solved."

"What do you mean?"

"Wasn't that the City Hall murder from several months ago? That was the first Night Howler case. How are all the

affected mammals doing?"

"I suspected that Night Howlers were involved. Don't worry. Last time I was in the hospital, a cure was almost finished. They've already tested it on Mr. Otterton, and the first batch of the final product will be available to the other patients sometime this week. What were you doing in City Hall that night?"

Lionheart sat back in his chair in thought as Judy pulled out her notepad.

"I was working late in my office. The only people I knew were in the building were myself, my bodyguards, and a single night guard on duty."

"Only one night guard? Aren't there supposed to be more?"

"The other two called in sick, so my guards made up the slack."

"I see."

The lion continued to recall the events five months ago.

"I took the elevator to the lobby with the two head guards when I was finished. When the elevator door opened, I saw a nightmare come to life! I saw a savage black bear in tattered security uniform mauling a dead goat in front of the fountain. There was a geyser of blood spewing from the body! I was absolutely frozen in shock. Luckily, one of my guards quickly closed the elevator door before the bear noticed us."

"Wait, the victim was already dead?"

"Looked like it. I didn't see the victim struggle at all to defend himself."

Judy thought over what the Lionheart had just said as he continued his recount.

"As soon as we were safe, I returned to my office and had my guards arm up and subdue the bear with tranquilizers after he smashed his way out the back door. They then hid him in an armory van and smuggled him out of the ZPD perimeter."

"Why did you do that?"

"Imagine what would have happened if his condition were studied while under the public eye? You heard what the doctor said at Cliffside. If that got public-"

"You're right. I know."

Judy ears drooped as she glanced away from the lion with regret. The former mayor leaned forward in his chair.

"Listen, what matters is that the public knows the truth now. There's no need to beat yourself up over that press conference."

Her ears sprang up at the comment. She just remembered that she was still in the middle of an interrogation.

"Right! By the way, what happened afterward?"

"Oh, you know. I acquired the Cliffside Mental Hospital after it closed down, and when other cases of animals going savage popped up all over the city, I sent my security detail to capture them and take them there for study."

Judy jotted down more notes.

"I have another question for you. What was your relationship with the D.A., Francis Edgewolf after AM-8?"

Lionheart began to open his mouth to answer, but then he paused. He frowned and took a moment to think over what he was going to say.

"D.A. Edgewolf and I were acquaintances and colleagues, nothing more, nothing less."

Judy raised an eyebrow as she flipped through her notepad.

"Mr. Lionheart, I find that hard to believe. Mr. Edgewolf's assistant told me that you two were clearly working together after the incident. You even gave him a satellite office. Why?"

The lion didn't answer. Judy continued.

"Your account has too many holes for you to have done the cover-up alone."

"Holes?"

"If what you just told me was the whole story, there would've been too many loose ends for your plan to remain hidden. For example, if the security footage from the lobby were viewed by the ZPD, your secret would've gone out! You had a partner help you with the cover-up, didn't you. You were the mayor, but even you had limits. So you needed help. You went to Mr. Edgewolf, and he agreed, and you gave him the satellite office to make collaboration easier, and maybe even hide a few things, since he almost never received visitors there. Is that right?"

The former mayor stared wide-eyed at Judy before narrowing them in annoyance; she crossed the line.

"I believe our conversation is over, Officer Hopps."

"Wait!"

But it was too late. Lionheart stood up and a polar bear guard opened the door for him to leave the visiting room while Judy slouched in defeat.

* * *

Grand Pangolin Arms Apartments, Savannah Central; 9:30 PM.

Judy changed into her pajamas and sat in her chair by her desk. She pulled out her phone to wait for Nick's muzzletime request. When she glanced at the screen, her eyes widened with horror. She forgot to turn the sound back on after the prison visit, and the phone had already been alerting her of Nick's muzzle time request for the past minute. Judy immediately swiped right to accept it.

"Hey! Carrots! I thought you'd never pick up!" complained a familiar fox on the screen.

"Oops, heh, forgot to turn on the sound," Judy sheepishly replied.

"Carrots! Where did you go so that you had to silence it...wait a minute, you didn't go see the new Jack Savage movie without me, did you?" Nick asked with a lighthearted, teasing tone.

"Like I have time for that! I had to go to the Iceberg, not the movies!"

"So, what kind of case did Chief Buffalo Butt give you to work on until I graduate? If you had to visit a prisoner, it's gotta be important."

Judy paused to think over her answer, remembering how strongly Bogo insisted that her real assignment remain a secret. Well, then again, I think it's safe to mention a little to Nick...

"I've been assigned to records, the Chief wants me to look into a few old cases."

"Tracking lost paperwork? Now I know how much Buffalo Butt wants me on the force ASAP."

"Apparently so. At least it's not parking duty. How's your third day at the academy going?"

Nick took a minute to assemble his thoughts.

"Hoo boy, where to start? The obstacle courses were fun. I got buried in sand, face planted in mud, and fell in freezing water after falling off the ice wall. I take everything back about you not being a real cop! You should get a medal for this! Also, the rhinos used me as a weight in the gym. The weights they got me were a little on the small side, since I heard that there are armadillos and smaller felines on the force already."

"I've only seen officers like them on desk duty."

"Huh, figures. Perhaps I'll have better luck?"

"I'll make sure of it."

"Glad to know that you have my back, Carrots."

"Of course I do, you emotional fox. Don't worry about the obstacle courses. They'll get easier the more you do them. I'm sure you'll have no problem with the exams, though."

"Thanks Carrots. G'night!"

"Good night, Nick.""

"You know you love me."

The flirtatious way the fox asked the question caught Judy off guard. _Wait, what?_ She quickly tried to come up with a response.

"Do I know that? Yes, yes I do."

Judy ended the call and piled her bed with her stuffed animals. She then picked up her notepad and flipped through it to reassemble the thoughts she had when writing in it. Okay, Mr. Prosecutor. Ready to play hardball tomorrow? she thought as she set the pad aside.

She then tucked herself in bed and stared at the ceiling. Huh, this room is quiet. Too quiet. Her mind drifted towards Nick again. She worried about how he was doing, and hoped he wasn't hiding anything. Come on, Judy! It's Nick we're talking about. He'll be fine! Then again, knowing Nick, if something were wrong, he probably will just keep hiding it. She then realized how lonely she had become, even though Nick has only been gone for three days.

"I miss you, Nick. I can't wait until you graduate," she said quietly to herself.

"Aww, rabbit. That was really touching! I'm serious!" piped up a voice behind the wall.

"It wasn't meant for you, Bucky!" blasted another voice in the same apartment.

"Shut up! The bunny needs her sleep!"

"YOU shut up!"

"No, YOU SHUT UP!"

"NO YOU SHUT UP!"

Judy groaned. I spoke too soon. But not even the Oryx-Antlersons' endless arguing could stop the bunny from slowly drifting into dreamland.

* * *

 **If you thought a chapter as critical as this couldn't get clunkier...**

 **Stay tuned for the battle of wits that is to come! And I'd love to hear second opinions!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Open this in a new tab:**

Logic Chess ~ Opening - Gyakuten Kenji 2 Music Extended

 **Some music that is befitting of an intense questioning.**

* * *

Chapter 7

D.A. Office, Savannah Central District Court; 10:15 AM.

Judy walked up to the vixen sitting behind the reception desk.

"Hey, Thena!"

"Hi Judy! You're early! Mr. Edgewolf is waiting for you."

Judy turned and went through a door to her right. A massive window on the wall across from the doorway brought a relaxing amount of sunlight into main office. A ladder leaned against the tall and fully stocked bookshelf that covered the right wall. Next to the ladder was a chessboard on a small wooden table. A blue couch sat under a large panoramic family photo of well-dressed wolves that hung on the left wall. And right in front of the window, seated behind a large wooden desk right across from Judy, was a familiar wolf in a gray suit, flipping through some papers.

"Officer Hopps, I've been expecting you. Please, take a seat."

Judy pulled up a chair at the desk and sat down. The chair was a bit big for her, so she stood back up on the chair.

"How may I help you?" the wolf asked politely, setting his papers atop a several inches thick stack of legal documents.

"I'd like to ask you a few questions, Mr. Edgewolf."

 ***Start Music Here**

"And I'll do my best to answer them."

"Good. So, why weren't you here in your office yesterday?"

"Simple. I was moving."

"What do you mean by moving?"

"I used to have a satellite office at City Hall. I lost ownership of it when I was almost terminated by Bellwether. So, I'm in the process of moving everything back here."

"Why would the D.A. need a satellite office at city hall?"

"For a time, I had to work more closely with the staff there, hence the office. That work is confidential, if you were planning on asking."

Judy leaned back on the chair's backrest to think of what to ask next.

"Okay, next question. What was your work relationship with former mayor Lionheart, since you two were right next door."

"Lionheart and I were merely colleagues who worked near each other."

Judy paused and raised an eyebrow.

"That's funny, because your assistant observed that you two actually remained in very close contact while you had that office, which was given to you by him."

Edgewolf's smile remained stoically, though Judy was able to notice a small amount of sweat building up under his fur. He sat back while continuing to give the rabbit his full undivided attention.

"I guess there is no point in hiding that, since you've made me realize that I have been underestimating my protege yet again," he said, undaunted, "Lionheart and I did work closely for a time. That was the work I had to do at city hall."

 _I've broken through_ , thought Judy, _Now to burrow a little deeper_.

"What do you know about the AM-8 case?"

"Bogo reopened it? That does not sound like him."

"Well, he did," Judy lied.

"I'm not surprised he assigned his star officer to the case then."

"I'm flattered."

The wolf took a minute to recall his memory.

"If memory serves me well, wasn't that the City Hall murder case I was assigned to four months ago? I cannot recall details, though, because y'see, I haven't seen the file in a long time, and I don't pay attention to cases that never got to court."

"I'm sure you remember more than that."

"Oh? You think I'm hiding something? Pray tell."

"Lionheart not only gave you that office. He gave it to you in the aftermath of that case."

"And where are you going with this?" the wolf asked without a hint of agitation.

"Would that work you mentioned somehow involve the aftermath of AM-8, by any chance?"

The wolf leaned forward and gave Judy a serious look.

"Answer me this, Officer Hopps: why would we linger on a five month old case that went cold after four weeks?"

Judy didn't answer. The wolf sat back and continued.

"Exactly. We wouldn't. Without evidence or a suspect in custody, who would want to linger on it if Zootopia's finest couldn't find a new lead in a whole month?"

"That comment got awfully specific, coming from someone who doesn't know much."

 _Got him!_

"I ask again, and please don't lie this time. What do you know about AM-8?"

"I don't know much besides what I just told you."

"Allow me to jog up your memory."

"Enlighten me, since you seem to know what you're talking about."

 _Rats! I have to tread carefully._

"I'm listening, Officer Hopps."

"The prime suspect of the case was City Hall security guard Black Watterson. Sound familiar?"

"That name rings a few bells."

"The victim was legal clerk Casey Karson. He was mauled to death."

"Not surprised, given that the bear had gone savage. Such a shame. He had a promising career."

Judy paused and looked up from her notepad.

"That info was never mentioned, not even on the case files."

"Black Watterson was one of the fourteen missing mammals ZPD was looking for since the incident, correct? I just deduced that he went savage like the rest."

"You seem to have been paying an awfully close attention to those cases, since you know the details so well. You weren't working on them. Why?"

"I make sure to keep up with cases as they're being investigated, so I can easily get on the same page as everyone else involved when I'm supposed to come in, whether it goes to trial or not."

"I thought you didn't pay attention to such cases. Also, the stand-in AM-8 file did not say anything about the suspect going savage, and the names of those afflicted by Night Howlers have not been revealed yet, so it was strange of you to put two and two together so quickly. You clearly know more about the case than you're letting on!"

Edgewolf continued to smile, but he wasn't fooling anyone. Judy noticed some more sweat under his fur.

"So what if I know more about AM-8 than I would like to admit? That doesn't prove a thing."

"Ooh, actually, you just gave a reason why Lionheart would seek you out to help him cover up the Night Howler incident."

"If you think I had anything to do with Lionheart's plan, you are mistaken."

"If what you said about not paying attention to cold cases is really true, you would have had no reason to stick your snout into any of the fourteen missing mammal cases, unless you had to."

"And why would I have to pay specific attention to those cases?"

"Because Lionheart would've needed you to keep the ZPD off his tail. Also, isn't it a bit suspicious that you had that office for as long as the Night Howler cover-up was going on? You couldn't get it back, even after Bellwether tried to fire you, so you relied completely on Lionheart to keep it."

Edgewolf's calm smile slowly turned into a sly smirk.

"You're a sharp one, Officer Hopps. I'll give you that. However, all of the things you accuse me of are, though dishonest at most, perfectly legal. I'm the district attorney, which gives me the security clearance to view the files of ongoing cases. What are you even trying to get out of this?"

Judy paused. _He's right! Unless I can prove a link between him and the missing files, I have no right to keep questioning him._ Both sides of her brain immediately took sides to argue whether or not to reveal her intentions for questioning him. The wolf calmly picked up a pitcher and glass from a table behind him and poured himself some water.

"Several case files have been stolen from precinct records departments all over the city, including AM-8, and I have reason to suspect that you were behind it."

 ***Cut Music Here**

Judy's answer caught the wolf off guard as he was taking a sip, and snorted water up his nose. He then reflexively inhaled some more water and got into a coughing fit as a result.

"P-*cough*- pardon me, but I-*cough*- must have misheard you. What did you just say?" he managed to wheeze out as he adjusted his glasses on his snout.

"I have reason to suspect-"

"No, no, before that."

"Several case files have been stolen from ZPD records, including the one for AM-8."

Edgewolf sat back in his chair, his calm demeanor replaced by barely visible unease. _Okay, now's my chance,_ thought Judy.

"So you assume that I am the thief you're looking for because I know more about AM-8 than you think I should. That's far from enough," said the wolf, his confidence returning.  
"Would it help my case if I said that I saw you in possession of the file shortly before it was reported stolen?"

Edgewolf's eyes grew wide with shock as the confidence he just build up shattered in an instant. Apparently, he remembered.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Yes, I did see the AM-8 file sandwiched between a few other things when I bumped into you at City Hall. I believe that is more than enough probable cause to have both offices searched, unless of course, you come clean _right now_."

The wolf didn't respond. Judy's accusatory expression morphed into a lighthearted smile.

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart."

Still wide-eyed in shock, Edgewolf thrusted himself back into his chair as if he was just shot. Judy didn't know what to say. She just watched the defeated wolf slump in his chair, and then she looked down at her notepad to prepare her next argument.

"Hah. Ahaha." laughed a voice across the desk.

Judy looked up to see the wolf throw his head back and bear a wide grin.

"If I weren't the one being cornered and threatened with jail time, I'd be writing you a letter of recommendation to Bogo to make you a detective. Well played, Officer Hopps. Well played."

The wolf sat up in his chair and composed himself, but he did not smile again.

"Now I know there is no point in lying to you anymore, so I'll come clean. Did I hide evidence and Halberd's case report? Yes, yes I did. Did I do that to help Lionheart cover up the Night Howler outbreaks? Yes, yes I did. Am I responsible for the recent thefts that you mentioned though? No, I am not. AM-8 was the only case I tampered with, and I replaced it with a forged version."

"So, according to you, the stolen file was your forged 'copy'?"

"Correct."

"What about the other missing files?"

"AM-8 was the only outbreak that nearly went public, so I had no motive to steal the other case files. Leodore's guards were very shrewd in making sure that AM-8 would never happen again."

"I keep hearing about the mayor's bodyguard"

"Lionheart relied on a private security company, P4S - Pack 4 Security - throughout his tenure. Don't ask me why. It was pretty convenient, though, given the situations we ended up using them for."

Judy still remained on guard. Since when did a lawyer completely come clean when he lost?

"I'm going to need to see the original AM-8 case file."

"I'll let you look, but first, I would like to request that we make a deal."

Judy sighed. _Of course. Even when a lawyer has lost, he still tries_ , she thought.

"You know I hold all the cards, right?"

"I'm well aware of that. The way I see it, there are two ways the next series of events will play out, one where you agree, and one where you don't."

"What are your terms?" Judy warily asked.

"I let you read this file and help you with your case. Once you find the real thief and recover the stolen files, you destroy the false copy of AM-8 and hand in the real one, as well as the missing evidence, as if I never touched it. It's not much to ask. I avoid charges for doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, and you get your thief."

"And if I don't want to trust you?"

"You get a search warrant to find the original AM-8 file, arrest me as the thief, and Bogo closes the case while the real thief remains at large. It's messier, but it works for you as well. So, do we have a deal?"

The bunny was torn. _By forging a case file and hiding evidence, he is guilty of multiple felony offenses and making families worried sick, and ruined a few careers in the process._ Her mind drifted into thinking about Halberd's ruined career and how much Mrs. Otterton was hurt by her husband's disappearance. _I can't let him just walk away_ _!_ But then she drifted back to her memory of the Night Howler Incident, and the disaster that unfolded following Lionheart's arrest. _Then again, if it weren't for him, countless other lives could have been hurt had he not did this._

"I… agree to your terms."

"Very well."

Edgewolf quietly got up from his chair and walked over to his bookshelf. He pulled out a fat red law book from the middle shelf and extracted a familiar blue file folder sandwiched between the pages. He then carefully placed the file on his desk in front of Judy and sat back down.

"Behold, the lost secrets of AM-8."

"Wait, if you had this file all this time, then how did Officer Halberd not notice? I was told he investigated the case whenever he had spare time."

"I marked the case materials as 'classified,' and whenever he wanted to view the case materials, he had to ask me to 'pick it up for him.' That is, until a certain sheep revoked my authority to do such a thing. Also, whoever told you that was exaggerating. He only requested for it from me no less than six times since the incident."

Judy opened the folder and began to read the contents.

 **Case #: AM-8**  
 **Incident: Homicide**  
 **Head Investigator: Rufus Halberd**  
 **Victim: Casey Karson (goat)**  
 **Suspect: Black Watterson**  
 **Witnesses:  
** **-Leodore Lionheart  
** **-Howl Shields  
** **-Preston Rooke**

 **Investigation Summary:**  
 **On May 17, 11:09 PM, in the lobby of City Hall, legal clerk Casey Karson was found badly mauled in front of a fountain. He died at the scene before EMTs could arrive. The security cameras in the building, as well as witness reports from Mayor Lionheart and some of his guards, were able to catch the murder in the act: a male black bear, identified as City Hall night guard Black Watterson. A four week mammal hunt followed the incident, but Mr. Watterson all but disappeared, prompting Chief Bogo and Superintendent Kancil Chevrotain to freeze the investigation until a new lead could be found.**

 **Victim Data:**  
 **Casey Karson was a legal clerk from the Zootopia District Attorney's office. He was mauled at roughly 10:57 PM. He was pronounced dead at the scene from exsanguination at 11:11 PM through multiple deep slash wounds to the torso, chest, and neck. The claw marks match closely with that from black bears. Trace amounts of tranquilizer have been painstakingly detected and extracted from the pool of blood on the floor around the victim. How it may have been administered to the victim is uncertain.**

 **Suspect Data:**  
 **Black Watterson was a night shift security guard at City Hall. He was caught in the act of clawing the victim by Leodore Lionheart and two of his guards at roughly 10:58 PM. He then disappeared when police arrived, and managed to elude a four week mammal hunt. As of the date this report was written, he remains at large.**

 **Evidence List:**  
 **-Victim's Autopsy**  
 **-Fur samples with DNA sequenced; confirmed to be from a black bear**  
 **-Punch clock data: Watterson clocked in for work at 7:00 PM, but never clocked out.**  
 **-Security camera footage: cameras were offline for maintenance until 11 PM, so they should've caught the prime suspect in the act.**  
 **-Victim's blood sample: trace amounts of tranquilizer was found, source of it is unknown.**

* * *

 **Bet you all didn't see that coming!**

 **So who is the real thief? Why were the files, including the ones for AM-8, stolen in the first place?**

 **All will be revealed in time...**

By the way, what do you all think of the line spacing for dialogue? Should the line spacing between dialogue be double or single? Tell me what you think in the reviews.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

D.A. Office, Savannah Central District Court; 11:22 AM

Judy looked up after reading the file. The chair behind the desk was empty. Judy turned around in her chair and saw the wolf move a few books on the bottom shelf near the end of the library and grab a small metal box hidden behind them. He brought the box over to the desk, opened it, and sat back down.

"Here is the evidence that was missing before the theft. I have the security tape and the victim's blood samples. Is there anything else you need?"

"They still use tapes?"

"Ironically so. I thought the system was due for an upgrade on the day of the murder."

"You got something that can play tapes?"

"Sadly, no. Most precincts do, though."

Judy breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness! I happen to have to visit Precinct Nine today. They also had some files stolen," she said.

Edgewolf furrowed his brow in thought and stroked his chin.

"I was told a murder occurred in Records as well. Could the two be related?"

"My assignment is just to recover the missing files."

 _Though the two could be related,_ mused the bunny.

"Shall we go find out then?" asked the wolf as he stood up and reached for a black fedora hanging in the corner by the window behind him.

"You're coming?"

"I have to make sure you hold up _your_ end of the deal. Plus, the detectives in charge asked me to help investigate."

And without another word, Edgewolf put on his fedora, picked up a hefty stack of papers half the size of the one Judy noticed when she came in, and walked out the door into the reception office, with Judy following close behind with the box. The canine then stopped and turned towards the arctic vixen sitting at the reception desk, who looked up and presented to him another stack of papers.

"Boss, I'm finished running through these tax forms. Al Capaw won't know what hit him!"

"Excellent work. I'm going out."

"Where are you off to, sir?"

"Precinct Nine. Murder investigation."

"Sounds fun," replied the vulpine sarcastically.

"Now, Athena, I'm very sorry to have to put you through this, but I've already spent three straight nights on signing these off and I'm falling really behind."

The wolf plopped the thick and heavy-looking stack of paper he was holding onto the vixen's desk, causing her and Judy to jolt from the impact it made.

"I need you to help me finish going over these traffic court complaints. They're due in two days, and the Judge Courtney is on my tail for them. Once you're done, just add them to the two-foot tall stack on my desk."

Athena gaped as she gazed wide-eyed at the stack of papers. Judy felt her chest start to grow a little heavier, and couldn't help but feel her facial muscles contort into an embarrassed grin that she hoped nobody would notice.

"Sweeeeet cheese and crackers! How many parking tickets were written over the last two months?" exclaimed Athena.

The wolf shrugged nervously.

"I wish I knew. I lost count after reading the two hundred-and-sixty-third form. They were all on the same day!"

Judy could feel the weight grow heavier. _I guess there is such a thing as trying too hard then..._

"Well, look at the time! We really have to get going, right Mr. Edgewolf?"

"Good luck."

"Riiiiight. I'll have a word with Bogo later today, and ask him how his meter maids have been doing."

 _Uh oh!_

The wolf and the rabbit proceeded into the hallway, down the corridor to the elevators, and to the parking garage. Judy walked out of the elevator towards where she parked her traffic cart.

"So I take that we're taking your car?" Edgewolf asked.

"Yes," Judy replied.

"If you say so."

The wolf followed the rabbit to her parking space. When he saw the traffic cart, he smirked.

"A traffic cart? You're kidding, right?"

"Just get in."

The wolf walked up to the passenger side of the car and tried to squeeze in. Judy hopped into the driver's seat and looked to her left to see the canine struggle to even get both his legs in the cabin. She then remembered that the cart could barely fit her _and_ a certain fox at the same time, and foxes are a little over half the size of wolves. _Oops._ Edgewolf then gave up trying.

"That's it," the annoyed wolf remarked, "We're taking my car. Wait here."

He pulled his leg out of Judy's traffic cart and walked off to the other side of the garage. Judy didn't have to wait long before a dark red sports car turned a corner and parked in front of her. The passenger side window rolled down, revealing Edgewolf in the driver's seat.

"Get in, Hopps."

Judy opened the door and plopped down into the wolf-sized passenger seat, box in her lap. The car's electric engine roared to life and sped its way towards the ramp and out of the garage, with the rabbit clutching the seat for dear life.

The wolf put on a pair of sunglasses when he stopped abruptly at the top of the ramp to wait for an opening amid the stream of cars to get on the road. He turned towards the frightened bunny, who was clutching the edges of the seat back so hard that they were leaving grip marks.

"Don't grip too hard. It'll ruin the synthetic leather. That stuff's really expensive."

Judy refused to let go, even though she was able to adjust the seat belt to her height, a common feature for Teslas.

"You need to learn to relax more. Just sit back and enjoy the ride."

 _Yeah, I'll enjoy it… if you wouldn't stop and accelerate so abruptly,_ she thought.

Edgewolf suddenly pulled onto the road the second he found the gap he was looking for and sped down the boulevard.

"So, Hopps. When did you talk to Lionheart?"

"Huh?"

"No one else could've told you what you know about my involvment."

"Yesterday. He kept silent on your involvement and walked out on me before I could get a straight answer."

"Well, you're sharper than I thought. You would make a good lawyer. What else did he tell you?"

"He saw that the victim of AM-8 just let himself get killed. He could've been drugged."

"Now that is new to me. He pled the Fifth during the entire investigation, and didn't even tell me. Correlates with the blood analysis, though."

He suddenly slammed hard on the brakes, stopping the car with a jolt.

"Son of a-"

A large flatbed truck cut in front of him without signaling, which would've bashed into the front end of his car had he not stopped.

"Well that would have lengthened our trip by a lot. So where is your fox friend?"

"Nick? He's at police academy."

"Hoo boy. Good luck to him. I still remember my time at the academy like it was yesterday. I doubt Bearester has changed one bit."

"You went to the academy?"

"Of course. Prosecutors are technically lawmen too. We go through the same obstacle courses and weapons training as anyone in the ZPD on top of the bar exam. We are issued lapel badges and may carry weapons for self defense, but most of us choose not to, since we lack arrest powers. Heck, I haven't fired a dart gun in ten years!"

Judy laughed upon hearing the last comment. Edgewolf continued.

"So why did you become a cop? I heard that you wanted to do this since you were a kit."

"It's a really long story. So what inspired you to become a prosecutor?"

"In short, my parents groomed me to become a lawyer to work at the family firm, I got into criminal justice, and took the job just to rebel. Worked pretty well for me, if I do say so myself."

The wolf smiled at his own remark.

"I'll hazard a guess that your parents don't exactly approve of your career choice either."

"Are you spot on? Yes, yes you are," Judy answered.

The car made another sudden stop. They were at the district border between Savannah Central and Sahara Square, and right in front of them was a long line of cars waiting to cross a drawbridge. Judy rolled down the window to stick her head out to see a long line of barges make their way down the river at a snail's pace; each barge bore the corporate logo of Slothridge Cargo Services.

"Bad news. The barges up ahead are crewed by sloths."

"Better get comfortable then, Officer Hopps. We're gonna be here for a while."

* * *

Precinct Nine Guest Parking Lot, Sahara Square; 11:50 AM.

Edgewolf pulled the sports car into an empty parking space under a solar panel awning. Judy struggled to stay balanced as she stepped out onto the pavement, still shaking from the harrowing ride from the drawbridge. The wolf calmly took off his sunglasses, wiped them off, and put them back on.

"Come on, Officer Hopps! We have cases to solve."

Judy managed to regain her balance despite the sudden blast of heat upon opening the door, pocketed the security tape, and followed the wolf into the precinct. The reception room wasn't much cooler than it was outside. The large room was modestly lit and lacked windows to preserve the room temperature. Judy followed Edgewolf up to the reception counter, staffed by a camel, who appeared to be chewing something.

"Hello, you two! How may I help?"

"Captain Kovu requested my presence?"

"Oh, Mr. Edgewolf! Cap's office is down the hall to the left."

The camel pointed at a hallway that ended at a T-junction. The wolf thanked her and headed off to his destination.

"And how may I help you, Officer Hopps?"

"You got a video cassette player I can use?"

"It'll take a while to fire it up. Can you wait until after lunch break?"

"Ugh, sure. Can you point me to records?"

"I'm sorry, but due to the murder of the records manager in records, the area has been cordoned off to all personnel."

"Okay then. Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

* * *

Precinct Nine Captain's Office, Sahara Square; 11:55 AM.

Edgewolf knocked on the wooden door that had 'Captain' engraved on it in gold letters. A low, senior voice responded.

"Come in."

The wolf opened the door and walked in. A grizzled old male lion sat behind a large desk. Four other mammals sat across from the lion: a female black cougar, a male ocelot, and two male hippos. The lion stood up and reached out a rough-looking paw to the visitor.

"Ah, you must be Mr. Edgewolf. Alex Kovu, Precinct Nine captain. This is Sergeant Alethea Chadwick, Sergeant Octavius Prowlsmith, and Detectives Arnold Higgins and Dick Yawnus."

"Pleasure's all mine," the wolf replied, shaking the lion's hand, "No offense intended, but I know the detectives here are leading the murder investigation that we're going to discuss, but why are two records sergeants also in this room?"

Kovu sat back in his chair, his face practically expressionless.

"Have a seat. Now, you all know why you're here."

He gazed around at the five mammals sternly giving him their full attention. He picked up a TV remote on his desk and pointed it at a large monitor on the wall to his right. The monitor flickered on and revealed a title slide for a Pawerpoint presentation.

"Four days ago, one of our records managers at this precinct was murdered in the basement."

The screen changed to show a profile picture of a bookish-looking armadillo, accompanied by some bullet notes. The lion continued.

"The poor mammal's name was Armando Dill. Someone killed him by snapping his neck."

The screen changed yet again, this time showing a picture of a stack of records files and accompanying bullet notes that listed unfamiliar case numbers.

"Less than a day after the body was removed by CSI, the day shift records manager, Sergeant Chadwick, discovered that files and evidence for seven cases went missing. These events occurred far too closely together to be isolated incidents."

"What's the plan of attack, Cap?" asked Higgins.

"What we are discussing as of now is off the books. Nobody outside of this room shall know the details of this meeting. Am I clear?"

The lion interpreted silence in the room and focused gazes of his listeners as a yes.

"Now, the plan, you ask, is simple. The two crimes may be connected. Our goal is now to find the thief as well as the killer, so we are investigating them simultaneously. The two may either know something about each other, or may as well be the same person. No one knows about our secondary goal besides us, and they never will."

"Not even Bogo?" asked Prowlsmith in his typical Western accent.

"Not even Bogo."

"Hmm…"

Upon hearing the voice, the other mammals turned around towards the side of the room opposite of the screen to see Edgewolf sit back relaxed in his chair, the brim of his hat tipped slightly to shadow his face and barely obscure an amused grin; this evidently perturbed Kovu.

"Do you find something funny, Mr Edgewolf?"

The wolf straightened his posture and took off his fedora.

"As a matter of fact, yes, yes I do. The lack of transparency in which the ZPD operates continues to amaze me, especially this case, where two secret investigations are occurring at the same time on the same case, oblivious of each other."

"Please explain."

"You of all mammals should know that Chief Bogo is a very shrewd buffalo. Do you really think he's not aware of the missing files from Precinct Nine? And what of other precincts?"

The reactions from the other mammals in the room seemed to answer his rhetorical question. Kovu fingered the bottom of his mane, a puzzled expression slowly forming on his face; the two hippos exchanged a confused glance before turning their attention back to the wolf; Prowlsmith fingered his collar, looking around the room in thought and then gazed back curiously to wait for more info; Alethea looked around at the other mammals' expressions, especially Prowlsmith's. Unlike the others, the cougar did not appear completely puzzled by Edgewolf's revelations. The wolf continued.

"Yes, your thefts are not an isolated incident, and Bogo figured that out. As a matter of fact, I happen to have driven the officer he assigned to this 'off-the-books case' over here just now."

The lion's expression morphed into a frown.

"Are you suggesting-"

"Am I suggesting that you cede investigative authority of the thefts to Officer Hopps? Yes. Yes I am."

"Not gonna happen."

The wolf was stunned by the elderly lion's blunt statement, to the point that the normally stoic Edgewolf's reaction was barely visible. He quickly composed himself, however, and readjusted his glasses on his snout. _Hmph. So much for the easy way._ He adjusted his collar and tie and his warm and compassionate eyes narrowed into cold, icy daggers pointed right at the elderly lion.

"Oh snap!" Prowlsmith whispered to Alethea.

"He should not have said that!" black panther replied to her colleague.


	10. Chapter 9

**I'm back guys! School has started again, and I have a lot on my plate, so I won't be posting as frequently. Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 9

Precinct Nine Reception Room, Sahara Square; 11:55 AM.

The camel appeared annoyed at Judy's request. It was, after all, almost lunch break. She spat into a trash can sitting in a corner across the room, an impressive feat to the bunny, but the camel's bored facial expression showed that it wasn't that much of an achievement.

"Make it snappy."

"What's your name?"

"Officer Cammy Mills, precinct reception officer, as you can tell."

"What do you know about the recent disappearances of case files from records?"

"Meh, nothing much. Don't really pay much attention to department rumors."

 _Well, she's no Clawhauser, that's for sure_ , Judy thought as she recalled the portly cheetah's obsession with gossip.

"Okayyy then. So, what do you know?"

"Several highly classified files were discovered missing a few days ago. That was almost half a day after the body of one of the records managers was found."

"I never knew they were classified. What were they about?"

"Dunno. I only heard that they were very top secret. That's the only thing most mammals know."

"Why were they classified?"

"No clue. That's above my pay grade."

 _Ugh, again._ Judy's ears dropped in annoyance

"So, tell me more about the murder that happened."

"I'm not allowed to leak details."

 _Rats._

"Why are ya even asking me this, anyway?"

"Bogo assigned me to records, and I'm just confirming rumors. Speaking of which, can I see the entry data for the records department?"

"Fine, just gimme a sec- Oh wait, it's lunch time! Smell ya later!"

Before Judy could respond, Cammy jumped out of her seat and made a dash for the door. The bunny felt the ground quake and turned around to see a stampede of camels, felines, and other desert mammals in suits and police uniforms rush out the door after the reception officer.

Judy took a really deep breath. _I'll get lunch later._ She hopped over the reception desk and got behind the computer to finish what Officer Mills started. She moved the cursor over to the Zoogle Eyewitness icon on the desktop and opened the app. The cursor went up to the upper left corner and selected the 'entry records' tab, then moving to the clipboard icon labeled 'records.'

A pop-up window appeared as soon as Judy clicked on the icon.

 **This file has been marked as evidence and is therefore classified. If you are seeing this message, then that means you are not part of the related investigation and are therefore not authorized to open this file. If you think this is a mistake, please contact your administrator.**

"Ugh!"

She then looked around and angled her ears to search for background noise. She found almost none. _Huh, I guess that was the whole department._ A thoughtful smile crossed Judy's face. _Maybe I can sneak a glance of the crime scene._ She headed down the hall and looked around when she reached the T junction. On the wall were two arrows, one pointed towards each path leading to a staircase down. Judy read the engraved words under the left arrow:

Captain's Office  
Workspaces  
Armory  
Lockers

She then turned her attention to the right arrow:

Holding Cells  
Records

The bunny promptly made her way down the right staircase toward her destination. As she descended, the light in the stairwell began to dim. _Must be a thing for ZPD basements, I guess._ By the time Judy made it to the bottom of the stairs, the hall in front of her was barely well lit enough for a mammal without night vision to see. The temperature was also much cooler here than in the lobby. She made her way down the hall until she saw a flight of stairs in a doorway on the side of the hall leading down to another dark basement level. It was sealed off with police tape. _I guess that's it, then._

The tape was placed high enough for Judy to stroll right under by simply dropping her ears, as it was meant to block larger mammals. She headed downstairs into the near-pitch blackness and just reached the bottom when a shiny gold object was shoved into her face, causing her to nearly fall backward.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" a voice bellowed right in front of her.

"Gah!"

Judy frantically felt the wall behind her for a light switch and immediately flipped it on when she found it. The room was flooded with light within seconds, and right in front of her was a bobcat in a police uniform, flashing his badge at her.

"Who are you and what are you doing here? This is a crime scene!"

Judy rebalanced herself and gestured toward the badge on her chest.

"I'm Officer Judy Hopps, from Precinct One."

"Oh, sorry about that. I was worried that someone came to tamper with the scene."

"No hard feelings. And your name is?"

"My name? I'm Officer Bobby Fulbright," he replied, throwing a punch in the air in front of him and retracting it with a fist pump, "the heroic bobcat police officer who defends good citizens from evil! The champion of justice who comes running whenever you're in need! And my motto? It's 'In justice we trust!'"

 _Hoo boy… a large ham._

"And what's your job in the precinct?"

"My job is to serve out JUSTICE...as Captain Kovu's personal secretary!" the bobcat responded with a two-fingered salute and a toothy smile, "Now it's my turn to ask you a question. What are you doing here?"

"Chief Bogo assigned me to do inventory on ZPD records. I wouldn't suppose you would let me in to do my job, would you?"

"AbsoLUTELY NOT! This is a crime scene, and I have specific orders NOT to let anyone in under any circumstances, in the name of JUSTICE!"

"But I need to do inventory to catch a thief who has been stealing evidence to past cases. What if the thief is trying to avoid justice by doing that? I need to investigate this room to stop him."

"Wait, What? B-but, guarding the crime scene is a part of justice too!"

"I guess, but if you stopped someone from dealing justice, that would make you unjust, right?"

"Augh! You're right! Whose justice is more just here?"

Judy smirked and raised an eyebrow at the now panicking feline.

"And besides, if another cop came in to do their job in dealing justice, shouldn't you let them do their job?"

"Gaaaah! Why does it have to be so hard?"

 _Well that went well..._

"WhadoIdo? WhadoIdo? Aaagh!"

 _Um... too well?_

Judy walked past the bobcat as he struggled to think his way out of the logic paradox; she was careful not to disturb anything in the room. She saw that the scene was surprisingly devoid of any blood. White tape indicating the location of the body was laid carefully on the tile floor in the rough shape of an armadillo.

Judy carefully stepped out of the crime scene zone and began pacing between shelves, looking for anything out of place. For the most part, the binders remained untouched. That is, until Judy reached the last few aisles, which were a huge mess. The last shelf at the end was knocked off center and was leaning on the wall. Binders and file folders were strewn all over the floor around it. Judy carefully treaded around the mess and noticed a piece of paper on the floor several feet away from the mess around the leaning shelf.

 _Strange, that's too far away to have fallen out of the shelf._ Judy went up and bent down to have a closer look. _Hmm, why is this all the way over here?_ The paper was lying face-down, and Judy didn't have gloves to flip the page around to see what was on it. She took a mental note of it and stood back up. The bobcat standing near the entrance gave her a wave.

"Officer Hopps! I've decided that in the name of justice, I will let you look around, but you may not touch anything!"

"That works for me. Thanks!"

"Don't mention it. In justice we trust!"

 _Perhaps I can coax some info out of him…_

"So...you are Captain Kovu's aide?"

"You bet! I do whatever the Cap needs to get done in the name of JUSTICE!"

"How did he respond when the body was found?"

"I'm sorry, but the Cap gave me specific orders to not leak **any** details regarding the murder that occurred here."

"So he immediately covered it up, and everything related to it."

"Precisely… Ah!"

"Did he? Why?"

The bobcat's eyes grew wide with fear.

"I never said anything! I never said anything! You heard nothing!"

"Please, do this for justice. I need to know."

"Not agaaain! Why does this have to be so hard!"

"That's enough!" hollered a deep voice at the basement entrance.

Edgewolf stepped into the room, followed by Alethea, Prowlsmith, and Detectives Higgins and Yawnus.

"You, Foolbright, is it? Stand down. We're investigating this crime scene."

"But the Cap-"

"New orders, Officer Foolbright. You're dismissed."

The bobcat nodded and left to guard the entrance outside. Edgewolf adjusted his glasses and opened a red binder that he was holding.

"Speaking of Kovu, we were briefed on the murder case and the records thefts. Here's what we know so far."

* * *

Precinct Nine Records Room, Sahara Square; 12:20 PM.

"I see," said Judy, having just been briefed on the details of the murder and thefts.

"Yes, Captain Kovu needed some convincing to let you in on the case," Edgewolf replied.

"Oh he convinced him alright!" Prowlsmith piped up.

Higgins chuckled.

"You should've seen how he grilled the old fart. Don't worry. He'll be out of his catatonic state well before lunch break is over. Trust me. Now Yawnus and I are gonna go grab lunch. See ya!"

The two hippos swaggered up the stairs and made off towards the reception room. _It couldn't have been that bad compared to an icing._ Judy shuddered at the thought of a certain mob boss' preferred torture/execution method.

"We ought to be careful with the scene. Kovu hasn't even let forensics in to comb the room yet. They're on their way now," said Edgewolf, noticeably pleased with himself, "So Officer Hopps, I noticed that you went on an investigation of your own. Find anything?"

"Well, I checked out that mess over there," Judy replied, pointing at the leaning bookcase, "It looks like a struggle occurred."

The wolf pulled an autopsy report out of the red binder and took time to skim through it.

"Well, you're not wrong. Lab rats found bruises all over the victim. Our killer was careful not to give away even his species. No claw or hoof marks."

"Must have been wearing gloves then."

"Or literally pulling punches and using elbows and knees instead."

Judy glanced back at the sheet of paper she found on the floor away from the mess.

"I'm gonna need a pair of gloves. That scrap of paper looks out of place."

"How so?"

"If it fell out of the shelf during the struggle, then it wouldn't drift this far. It's resting almost directly on the trajectory between the mess and the exit that the thief might have taken to flee the scene."

"So, if that came from a stolen binder, it may give us an idea of what was stolen."

"You don't know what was stolen either?"

"Nobody here should. Those files were classified at the highest level."

The wolf handed Judy a pair of nylon gloves. She put them on and immediately bent down to pick up the scrap. She turned it around and placed it in an evidence bag she kept in her belt pouch. She then took a closer look. The page was wrinkled and torn in some places, but still intact. The binder holes were torn, indicating that it was ripped out of a binder. The left corner had the case number printed, LR-1, but what was on the right corner was what caught Judy's eye. It was a strange, rectangular logo. A red target reticle sat in the eye of a black, white and purple vortex that filled the rectangular space.

"So what is it?" asked the wolf, curious.

"I don't know. You take a look."

Edgewolf took the bagged paper scrap and was about to read it until the odd logo caught his attention. His skin immediately went pale under his fur, his eyes turned cold with raw fear.

"Oh sausages... It can't be."

"What? Is something wrong? What does that symbol mean?"

"That... I cannot share. But Officer Hopps, I need you to listen to me closely."

He leaned in close to whisper into Judy's ear. She could barely see cold sweat forming under his fur.

"Be very selective about whom you show this evidence to, no matter who they are, including other cops. I cannot stress this more. If the wrong mammals were to know you are in possession of this, you'll be **dead meat**. Are we clear?"

"Huh?"

"Are. We. Clear?"

Judy gulped. _So this is what Higgins meant._ She glanced up at the wolf. His look was dead serious, but Judy could see nothing but dread in his brown eyes.

"Yes."

"Good."

He stood up straight again and eyed the two records officers, Prowlsmith and Alethea, who were chatting by the doorway. He then glanced up the stairs, where Officer Fulbright stood guard.

"I have a feeling that each person in our little dream team has their own secrets related to this case" he said, remembering the meeting earlier that day.

"Whoa whoa, be careful with that!" a male Scottish voice rang out in the hall.

"What's the point of building mobile lab out of barrel if Snarloff can't roll?" a deep Russian voice replied.

"Don't you dare get any ideas. Do you know how much the ZPD spent to shrink a laboratory's worth of equipment?" a female English voice shot back.

Edgewolf smiled. "Sounds like forensics has arrived."

Everyone in the room turned towards the staircase to see two rats, a male black-hooded rat and a female white rat, carefully climb down the oversized staircase. They were followed by a polar bear hauling a large metal barrel that had windows and a door.

"Just set it in an open spot that's out of the way," said the hooded rat. He turned his attention to the others in the room, "Did someone order..." he put on a pair of shades, "...Labrats?"

"Pun not good. You are trying, no?" Snarloff asked sarcastically as he set the barrel down next to the stairs. The white rat unlocked the door and went inside. The bear then plugged a power cable into a nearby wall outlet, and the lights in the barrel came on. The white rat came back out with a pair of lab coats and a box of disposable gloves. Edgewolf approached the hooded rat and knelt down.

"Glad you could come. This scene is a few days old, but nothing's changed besides the body being removed."

"Nothing we can't handle. Fitz-Simmons at your service!" the rat replied.

"Fitz-Simmons?" Judy asked.

"Fitz," the female white rat said, gesturing towards the male hooded rat.

"Simmons," said the male rat, gesturing back towards his partner.

"They've been partners since grad school, and are based in Tundratown. They're the best CSI team in Zootopia, and are inseparable," Edgewolf elaborated.

Meanwhile, Snarloff was finished setting up the rat-sized crime lab.

"Okay, everyone. CSI must work, so all must leave until job finished."

Everyone complied and quickly piled their way up the stairs and out of the room.

* * *

Precinct Nine West Wing Hallway, Sahara Square; 12:34 PM.

"Wait, CSI wasn't let in the room until TODAY?" Judy exclaimed.

"Yup! And I'll say, I had a pretty strong hand in that!" answered Fulbright

Edgewolf facepalmed in disappointment at the disdainful lion in charge of the precinct.

"Yes, and I'll bet that there was a _very good_ reason to," he replied sarcastically.

"Aren't all of ZPD's forensics personnel are in Tundratown? If you wanted your own mammals on this, you wouldn't want to call them," Judy answered

"Spot on, Officer Hopps."

Edgewolf marched over to the bobcat. He was taller than the officer by a head.

"Always blindly following a superior is not the way to deal justice, Officer Foolbright."

"Ulp! Eheh…"

"Look forward to your next salary negotiation. I believe we can discuss this further then."

"Augh! Yes sir!"

Fulbright stood back at attention again, though his fearful quaking made it obvious that he was unnerved. The wolf looked back at the records room entrance, then over to the two records officers standing next to him and Judy.

"So, while Fitz-Simmons do their job, anyone have any other leads?"

"There's that security tape," said Judy.

Prowlsmith shook his head.

"Them Techies won't be back 'till after one. Maybe the keycard records will give us some suspects. And since there have been thefts all over the ZPD, maybe we should do the same for all of them."

"Sounds like a plan," the wolf replied, "Let's go find a computer."

The group started to head over to the cubicles in the east wing of the precinct. Judy's thoughts drifted back to the symbol on the paper scrap. _What was it that even scared Edgewolf? I'll look into this later, I guess…_

* * *

 **The investigation continues! Let me know what you think!**


	11. Author's Note and Apology

**Hello Dear Viewers,**

 **I have been very, very busy lately, so I haven't been able to post anything for a while.**

 **I am very sad to announce that this fan fiction will not be continued. I started writing this on a whim, which to be honest, is never a good thing, especially with a short attention span. Over time, I began to realize that I didn't have a solid plan to continue, and I began to lose interest in the story. I deeply apologize to those who have been waiting since late summer for more.**

 **I have not given up on writing, however. I just bought Zootopia on DVD, and I've received some new inspiration. I have a couple one-shots and a short story in the works that are more suited to my attention span and busy schedule at the moment. I hope that would make up for the cancellation.**

 **It was a pleasure to write this for you all, and I wish you all a (late) Happy New Year!**


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